Republican speaker dismisses Obama jobs plan

WASHINGTON: House speaker John Boehner on Thursday dismissed President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan, saying its tax credits were not enough to create private sector employment.

"Let's be honest with ourselves," the Republican representative said in a speech at the Economic Club of Washington.

"The president's proposals are a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in America...the policies that are needed to put America back to work.

"If we want job growth, we need to recognize who really creates jobs in America. It's the private sector," he added.

Boehner repeated an earlier concession that some of Obama's ideas "offer opportunities for common ground" between Democrats and Republicans to revive the US economy as it struggles to recover from the global meltdown of 2008.

But he echoed other leading Republicans who derided Obama's proposals on Wednesday and was otherwise scathing of the jobs bill.

"The reality is that employers will hire if they have the right incentives, but the incentives have to outweigh the costs," Boehner said.

"Businesses are not going to hire someone for a $4,000 tax credit if government mandates impose long-term costs on them that significantly exceed the temporary credit."

The White House defended the plan from Boehner's attack, saying it would put money in the pockets of middle class families, and create jobs for teachers, police officers, firefighters and construction workers.

"The American Jobs Act includes the kinds of proposals that have been supported in a bipartisan way in the past, is fully paid for, and prominent, independent economists say it could create between 1.5 and 2 million jobs," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"The President's plan rebuilds the economy the American way, based on balance, fairness and ensuring there is the same set of rules for everyone from Wall Street to Main Street.

"The President is committed to working with members of both parties in Congress to pass the American Jobs Act right away."

Obama's plan was unveiled last week in an attempt to kickstart efforts to combat 9.1 percent unemployment in the world's biggest economy and restore trust in his economic leadership.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011